Concluding Remarks

Abstract

In organizing this symposium on the community ecology of sea otters, we hoped to ac-complish two results. One was that the important scientific questions concerning direct and indirect influences of sea otter predation on nearshore communities would surface and be discussed. The other was that needs and directions for future research would be identified. Here we seek to integrate and discuss the major points raised for us in the symposium. We divide these concluding remarks into four sections. The first and longest (Sect. 11.2) will emphasize generalities. What are the similarities and differences in the otter’s influence among rocky subtidal, rocky intertidal, and soft-bottom communities? Second (Sect. 11.3), we discuss variation in the structure and organization of nearshore communities within the historical range of the sea otter. Rocky subtidal communities will be emphasized in this section because (1) there have been enough studies in these systems to allow such treatment, and (2) these results are the focus of considerable controversy. The third section (Sect. 11.4) discusses directions for future research that have been recommended by the contributors to this Volume. Finally (Sect. 11.5), we venture briefly into the realm of philosophy to examine how some of the issues raised in this volume apply more broadly to community ecology, and to science in general.